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Topic: Canon PowerShot G1 X Brief Hands On (Read 11060 times)

Canon PowerShot G1 X – A Brief Hands On
The first product on tap to check out was the new Canon PowerShot G1 X. The large sensor, perceived game changer, in the high end of point & shoot cameras. Lots of people have asked since the Sigma DP1 for Canon to make a larger sensor, great ISO performing PowerShot. It took a few years, but Canon has finally delivered.

Impressions
There was a lineup to see the camera up close and personal. The Canon reps mentioned that none of them had spent any more than 3 minutes with the camera in their hands. I had to wait about 10 minutes to get to it.

The first think you notice is the size of the camera. It’s nearly the same size as the PowerShot G12 at first glance. The one glaring size difference is the rather large lens. Even when the camera is at it’s widest focal length, the lens sticks out a fair bit. Zoom in and the lens extends further.

The camera has a very nice weight to it. I’ve always been against making point and shoot cameras too light. This one feels like a camera in your hands. The viewfinder is adequate, but I wouldn’t use it too often. The 3″ articulating screen is bright and beautiful. One of the first things I noticed was the removal of the ISO dial at the top of the caemra like on the G12. I would miss that in day to day use. There is an ISO button on the back, but that isn’t as intuitive to me. The exposure compensation dial is still on top along with the mode dial, which is great news.

The Canon PowerShot G1 X in the Hands of my Wife

Roaming around the camera you find the dials and buttons are pretty small for hands my size. However, once the camera is set up, I can’t see needing to mess around with too many things on the back of the camera.

ISO Performance
When we hear Chuck Westfall say the new G1 X will have better ISO performance than the 60D and 7D, I think most of us sit up and pay attention. Having a small camera with excellent lowlight ability makes one (me, less so my wife) giddy inside.

As per all the unreleased cameras that Canon is displaying, I was not able to put a memory card in the G1 X to get some sample images. However, one of the first things I did was switch the camera to ISO 12,800 and take a couple of pictures and view them on the big 3″ screen. If the display is accurate, the performance of ISO 12,800 is fantastic. You can see some noise reduction smoothness, ut the detail and file quality is there.

This wasn’t the ideal way to test a camera for ISO performance, however I think most of us have pretty trained eyes when judging through an LCD.

Availability?
I was told we’d see the first shipments of the G1 X in February.

When we hear Chuck Westfall say the new G1 X will have better ISO performance than the 60D and 7D, I think most of us sit up and pay attention. Having a small camera with excellent lowlight ability makes one (me, less so my wife) giddy inside.

Which now makes me think: when are our dang DigicV prosumer DSLRs coming?

When I see a human holding the G1X, I realise what a large camera it is. Comparing it on camerasize.com, I realised that it isn't much different in size to the Leica M9! Impressive as it first seems, I think that the G1X is a little misplaced as a concept: it's a bit too big as a DSLR owners second camera and too expensive for the mass market.

I can't help thinking that Canon should have concentrated its resources on developing a compact system camera. Dump the crummy OVF for a decent EVF, slap on an interchangeable lens mount and this would be the camera that Canon DSLR owners have really been waiting for.

When we hear Chuck Westfall say the new G1 X will have better ISO performance than the 60D and 7D, I think most of us sit up and pay attention. Having a small camera with excellent lowlight ability makes one (me, less so my wife) giddy inside.

Which now makes me think: when are our dang DigicV prosumer DSLRs coming?

A few things I would like to know include:

What do the RAW files look like compared to a 7D at high ISO? - We won't know until the likes of DPReview give us a review.

What are the largest apertures available at 26-27mm and about 45mm respectively? - In other words, what are the maximum apertures at "normal" and "portrait" focal lengths? - I am not expecting miracles. The maximum aperture is 10.4mm, which would theoretically permit >=f/2.8 at a normal focal length or f/4.3 at a portrait focal length. That is hardly earth-shattering, but with some careful posing, it might be possible to achieve some decent results even for portraits.

Wow! Your ISO comment is now also making me all excited. Could this hint at the 1DX maybe amazing ISO performance as well? In anycase this little G1X is starting to sound more exciting as a camera for my wife!

When I see a human holding the G1X, I realise what a large camera it is. Comparing it on camerasize.com, I realised that it isn't much different in size to the Leica M9! Impressive as it first seems, I think that the G1X is a little misplaced as a concept: it's a bit too big as a DSLR owners second camera and too expensive for the mass market.

I can't help thinking that Canon should have concentrated its resources on developing a compact system camera. Dump the crummy OVF for a decent EVF, slap on an interchangeable lens mount and this would be the camera that Canon DSLR owners have really been waiting for.

It is still hell of a lot more portable than a DSLR, but I can see where you are coming from. The big feature being that the lens actually retracts, making it pocketable. I still want a f/1.4 shallow depth of field capable small camera. Which is where an interchangeable large sensor camera comes it.

I like your thinking and so would a lot of others, but Canon probably won't go there -do I remember an interview where a representative from Canon actually said that people that wanted this from a camera should buy a Leica?!

And that's the danger that Canon doesn't seem to have noticed. You buy a Fuji X-Pro 1 and a couple of their nice primes to use when you don't want to drag your Canon system along. Then you find that there are fewer and fewer occasions on which you are using your DSLR. Finally you realise that, for your style of photography, you're giving up very little in terms of capability using the Fuji and decide to sell the rest of your EOS system.

"Hands on" provides a great perspective. Confirms my first thoughts when I saw the initial product pictures.

In human hands I can see how brutish it looks. My first thought was that I wish Apple design people had some input on this thing. From an aesthetic standpoint, this camera looks like it was designed by a committee of blacksmiths.

Everyone has different tastes and needs, of course, but for me, I surely wouldn't buy something that is almost a DSLR but with none of the advantages. Hope the performance is stellar to make up for what I see as a lot of deficiency.

Thanks for the revealing picture. Best coverage so far of the event.

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briansquibb

With all respect those human hands look very small. The G12 looks that size in my wife's hands - my 5DII looks about the same in mine. I have a G12 and we know the 1/2 inch here and there extra - doesn't make it a big camera by any standards

I like your thinking and so would a lot of others, but Canon probably won't go there -do I remember an interview where a representative from Canon actually said that people that wanted this from a camera should buy a Leica?!

And that's the danger that Canon doesn't seem to have noticed. You buy a Fuji X-Pro 1 and a couple of their nice primes to use when you don't want to drag your Canon system along. Then you find that there are fewer and fewer occasions on which you are using your DSLR. Finally you realise that, for your style of photography, you're giving up very little in terms of capability using the Fuji and decide to sell the rest of your EOS system.

I think you could live without a viewfinder on a point & shoot. As long as the screen is visible during the day, it shouldn't be a problem, I don't really need it to swivel as well. I would rather have it be a little smaller (shorter and thinner).

It's a large camera with a small sensor. Steven Huff shows some size comparisons today. The body is as big as the 5DMarkII except for the prism housing.I am waiting for a mirror-less, full-frame Canon EVF with focus-peek and exposure-preview.And I am still waiting for the 5DMarkIII for $ work.

« Last Edit: January 11, 2012, 01:53:46 PM by Bengt Nyman »

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vlubambo

Hello everybody, I think we should consider the primary purpose of the canon idealize this particular product. A camera that meets the critical sense of professional photographers when they have a compact camera. I personally don't want to leave home with a lens system all the time, since I often carry my backpack with cameras and lenses. The G1X is a camera that cost less than half of the price of Fuji X-Pro1 without lens and a small fraction of the M9's price, these cameras are part of another category of cameras, are options to those who want something more discreet and light than DSLR. The benefits of the much larger G1X sensor outweigh the small size difference between them.Sorry for the mistakes in English, I speak portuguese.